Editing Nathaniel Rochester (section)

==Early life==
Nathaniel Rochester was the fifth of six children born to John and Hester Thrift Rochester in [[Westmoreland County, Virginia]] on February 21, 1752.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rochester |first1=Nathaniel |title=A Brief Sketch of the Life of Nathaniel Rochester, Written by Himself for the Information of His Children |date=1924 |publisher=The Rochester Historical Society |location=Rochester, N.Y.}}</ref> His father, who owned Rochester House,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/096-0087/|title=096-0087 Rochester House|website=dhr.virginia.gov|accessdate=November 6, 2022}}</ref> died in 1756. Five years later, Hester married Thomas Cricher. Cricher moved the family to [[Granville County, North Carolina]] in 1763, where Nathaniel attended the school of the Reverend Henry Pattillo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/rochester-nathaniel|title = Rochester, Nathaniel |website=ncpedia.org}}</ref> His grandfather William Rochester emigrated from England to the Americas.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aDILAQAAMAAJ&q=Nathaniel%20Rochester%20william | title=Publications of the Rochester Historical Society: Publication fund series | date=1924 | publisher=The Society }}</ref>

At age 16, Rochester found a job with a local [[Hillsborough, North Carolina|Hillsborough]] merchant, signing a two-year contract to be paid £5 per year, which after six months was revised to pay him £20 per year.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Rochester would eventually become a partner in the business within five years. In his early working years, he also served as a clerk for the [[vestry]] of St. Matthew's Parish, as a committee member for a civic organization, and, most notably, as a delegate to North Carolina's first [[North Carolina Provincial Congress|Provincial Congress]].